Senior Materials Artist (CONTRACT)

Why Sony Interactive Entertainment?

Sony Interactive Entertainment isn’t just the Best Place to Play - it’s also the Best Place to Work. Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is the company behind the PlayStation brand. As a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation, we’re part of a proud legacy of innovation and excellence. SIE is a dynamic technology company, delivering cutting-edge hardware and network services to more than 100 million people and an entertainment leader, home to some of the most beloved and recognizable intellectual properties (IP) in the world. Our role at SIE is to create and nurture the experiences under the PlayStation brand, a name synonymous with entertainment excellence and creativity.

This position is for temporary engagement through our staffing partner, Yoh Enterprise Solutions. This is a 6-month contract.

PlayStation Studios Visual Arts | Remote

This position is fully remote from anywhere in Canada. PlayStation Studios Visual Arts (PSSVA) provides world-class content, development and services to PlayStation Studios such as Insomniac Games, Naughty Dog, Santa Monica Studio, Bend Studio Guerilla Games, and more! Our team is always at the cutting edge of technology and partners with the industry’s best minds and companies.

You're a creative and passionate artist who lives for world building and crafting textures and materials that tell a story within game environments. You're inspired to achieve only the highest quality in your work and have a passion for contributing to the artistic vision and development of the industry's most anticipated AAA games.

We are seeking a highly talented and motivated Senior 3D Material Artist with a passion for crafting high quality, game-ready materials. The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of delivering high quality content during the later stages of development, working efficiently while maintaining an established visual quality bar. This role involves creating both in game and cinematic quality materials.

Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with Environment Artists directly in levels, iterate on materials in context, and bring environments to final visual polish
• Partner with Art Directors, Leads, Technical Artists, implementing feedback quickly and effectively
• Create and refine realistic PBR materials and surface treatments that support and elevate the project's visual direction, for both in game and cinematic levels
• Manage and author materials within propriety tools
• Contribute to the development and documentation of material workflows, standards, and libraries
• Track and address material-related bugs during production and post-production
• Help define and improve the game's visual direction with each deliverable
• Balance visual quality with performance constraints
• Solve production challenges creatively
• Estimate scope and manage workload effectively
• Deliver work on schedule / on time in a production environment

Requirements:

• A strong portfolio with recent work demonstrating an artistic approach to material and surface creation for real-world surface types
• 6+ years of experience in AAA video game production with at least one shipped title
• Strong grasp of composition, color theory, and the physical properties of real-world surfaces
• Experience showing a strong understanding of game development with a focus on materials usage within a world building pipeline
• Proficient at applying surface details and controlling shader features that represent a wide variety of material types
• Proficiency in Substance Designer and Substance Painter
• Solid understanding of PBR workflows and material creation pipelines
• Technical proficiency in game art workflows including UV layout, texel density, and texture optimization
• Experience optimizing games for performance and memory
• Strong proactive collaboration and communication skills
• Work core hours aligned with PST and team located in California
• English proficiency

Pluses:

• Knowledge of Substance Designer workflows
• Shader authoring
• Houdini experience
• Experience working with external outsource vendors
• 2D graphics experience
• Conceptual level layout experience

As a part of the PlayStation application process, candidates will be expected to provide a portfolio or demo reel of their work and may be asked to complete an art test, in addition to a phone screen.

All applicants are required to submit their CVs in English as part of the application process

At SIE, working with our partners, we consider several factors when setting each role’s base pay range, including the competitive benchmarking data for the market and geographic location. 

Please note that the individual base pay range may vary based on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location.

In addition, this role is eligible for benefit offerings that include medical, dental, and vision. Click here  to learn more.

The estimated base pay range for this role is listed below, this is an hourly rate.

$46.77—$70.14 CAD

Please note, Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees (which may include criminal background checks for some roles) and will need to process personal information to support these checks.

Please refer to our Candidate Privacy Notice  for more information about what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and your data protection rights.

Equal Opportunity Statement:

Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender (including gender identity, gender expression and gender reassignment), race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, maternity or parental status, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category.

We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond. 

Sony Interactive Entertainment is a Fair Chance employer and qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for employment.